Sydney Thunder head coach Shane Duff has thrown his support behind embattled West Indies star Chris Gayle, following the opener's latest failure.

Gayle managed just nine runs on Sunday as the Thunder crashed to a four-wicket loss to Sydney Sixers, their sixth straight loss in the Australian Big Bash.

"It's always the issue if you're not scoring runs. People think he's not trying," Duff said.

definitely hurting

"But I can assure you he's giving his absolute best to the team. He's just having a bad run at the moment. He's a human being and he's definitely hurting and I know how determined he is to score runs for us and help the team to win a game."

Gayle arrived at Sydney on a reported AUS$250,000 (approx. US$259,726) deal but has scraped together just 70 runs from five innings.

Following Sunday's loss, Sixers captain Brad Haddin lashed out at Gayle over his poor form.